Monday, September 25, 2017

The children are fighting.“How many have you had?”“I’ve
only had 2.”Then they uncover the potential
for the discrepancy: “Mom, how many have you had?”This time – 3.Usually – 0 (because they won’t share).Who raised them???

This goes against everything that David is: it comes from a
box. It is the best kitchen hack for me
right now. I have tried other berry
muffin recipes and I have (yet) to find a replacement to the box. If you have one, save my marriage – send it!

1 cup raspberries (note: I typically use frozen raspberries
and break them into smaller pieces with the smooth side of a meat mallet/tenderizer so the smaller raspberry pieces are “everywhere”
in the muffin)

¾ cup water

¼ cup vegetable oil

2 eggs

Follow the directions on the box, except you don’t use the
can of blueberries. Mix the muffin mix
with the water, vegetable oil and eggs.
Once that it blended, pour in the cup of raspberries and fold them in
gently. Line your muffin pan with paper
liners. Scoop about ¼ cup of batter into
each muffin cup.

Bake at 425 (or 400 for dark or nonstick pans). Bake 15-20 minutes or until golden brown and
cooked through.

This recipe will make 12 muffins (which means 4 per kid in
our house – unless the mom sneaks one, or 3, to make it even).

Tuesday, September 12, 2017

A true friend is one where you can pick up exactly where you left off and the time
and space between you doesn’t seem to matter.Sing.Sing a song.Sing out loud.Sing out strong: “I’ll Be There.”“Lean on Me.”“That’s What Friends are For.”“With
a Little Help From My Friends.”“Thank
You for Being a Friend.”

I’d like to be
friends with Bobby Flay. Among other
things, he has this great recipe for creamy cole slaw.(If you prefer a vinegar based cole slaw, be
sure to revisit this recipe for Carolina Cole Slaw).As a side or as a topping to David’s pulled
pork from the Big Green Egg (now you're going to want to be friends with David), this dish is a great sidekick.

*If you use a bag of cole slaw, cut the other ingredients in half. You can always add to it if you want more creaminess.

Combine the shredded cabbage (and carrots) in a large bowl. Whisk together the mayonnaise, sour cream, onion, sugar, vinegar, mustard, celery salt, salt, and pepper in a medium bowl, and then add to the cabbage mixture. Mix well to combine and taste for seasoning. Add more salt, pepper, or sugar if desired.

Monday, September 4, 2017

I’m all about the slogan.It’s the marketing genius that sticks with you."Betcha can’t eat just one."Correct – the Lay’s potato chip and I are
good friends. "Everybody doesn't
like something, but nobody doesn't like Sara Lee."Enjoy a slice of their pound cake while
working your way through all of those double negatives which somehow cross-cancel
into a positive statement.

If you have the time, make a pound cake from scratch.This recipe
from Southern Living is titled “Classic
Southern Pound Cake.”This might be
southern but not sure about “classic” as most pound cake recipes do not include
cream cheese (although no one is complaining around here about the smooth,
moist result).Paula
Deen and some others use shortening; Ina
Garten uses buttermilk; another used sour cream; the purists are straight
butter. The Mann family taste testers do
agree that the cake tastes better with a topping of fruit.

“I can’t believe I ate the whole thing.” – Alka-Seltzer

Happy Labor Day!

Ingredients

3 C granulated sugar

1 ½ C (3 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature

6 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature

4 large eggs, at room temperature

2 large egg yolks, at room temperature

¼ C half-and-half

2 tsp vanilla extract

3 C all-purpose flour

1 tsp salt

Preheat the oven to 300ºF with oven rack in center of oven.
Grease and flour a 10-inch (14-cup) bundt pan.

Beat sugar, butter, and cream cheese with an electric stand
mixer on medium-high speed until very fluffy and pale in color, 5 to 7 minutes.
Add eggs,1 at a time, beating on low speed just until yellow disappears after
each addition. Add egg yolks, half-and-half, and vanilla, and beat on low speed
just until blended.

Stir together flour and salt in medium bowl; gradually add
to butter mixture in 3 batches, beating on low speed just until blended after
each addition, stopping to scrape down sides of bowl as needed. Remove bowl
from stand and scrape batter. Using a spatula, stir batter once by hand,
scraping sides and bottom to incorporate any unmixed batter. Spoon batter into
prepared pan, and gently tap pan on counter to release any large air bubbles.

Bake in preheated oven until cake is golden and a long
wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean, 1 hour and 20 minutes to 1 hour
and 30 minutes (note: mine took closer closer to 1:40/1:45). Cool cake in pan
on a wire rack 15 minutes; remove cake from pan, and cool completely on wire
rack before slicing and serving, about 2 hours.

Monday, August 28, 2017

We said our final goodbyes to dear Uncle Willy. He and I shared a passion for food and a
belief that the dinner table is the most pure and authentic place for family and
friends to gather and be. Uncle Willy is
the most prolific contributor to The Baker’s Mann and the links to his recipes
are below. I will continue to cook and
share the recipes that I find in his binders.

With much love, Uncle Willy, I also impart some pieces of your wisdom about
sharing, money and investing, and visiting.
And with this, The Baker’s Mann is off hiatus and returns to sharing
recipes. I think it would make Uncle
Willy proud.

Sharing: One day
Uncle Willy and I were having lunch at a cute little restaurant in the Houston museum
district.On the menu was a bread
pudding.I asked him “do you want to
share dessert?”He replied “No!Get your own dessert!”Uncle Willy was a generous man – he shared
his time, his home, his dinner table, and more, but do not ask him to
share dessert.

Money and investing:
When I graduated from college, Uncle Willy shared his wisdom on managing my
finances.What was the secret of this
wise CPA and CFO?He drew a tic-tac-toe
board and wrote “market cap” on the x-axis and “risk” on the y-axis and then
advised me to select mutual funds that fit into each of the spaces.He was a simple and straightforward guy who
sent out emails to the family congratulating himself and informing others when
his Kroger or Randall’s had Blue Bell on sale AND he had a manufacturer’s
coupon.

Visiting: Uncle
Willy rarely traveled without some sort of gift of food (that he usually baked
himself).And his visits were always too
short.I would ask: “Why don’t you stay
longer?”He would reply: “You don’t want
to overstay your welcome.Leave on a
high note so that it makes them want more.”As always, even this last time, you got your way.

Monday, March 14, 2016

My favorite day of the year – just behind birthdays,
Thanksgiving, and Fat Tuesday – is… Pi Day.Pi,
as you know, is the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter
which is approximately 3.14159… so March 14 (or 3/14) has become Pi Day and it gives me
an excuse to make and eat pie (as if I’ve ever needed an excuse to make/eat
dessert!).

In a medium saucepan, whisk together cream and milk. Warm
over medium-low heat. Add in chocolate and stir until chocolate has completely
melted and is smooth. Mix in a little of the warmed milk to the whisked eggs to
bring up their temperature. Slowly add
in vanilla and whisked eggs to the milk + chocolate and whisk until smooth.

Pour chocolate filling into (store bought or baked) pie
crust. Bake for 15-20 minutes (mine took more like 25-30 minutes), or until
chocolate filling is set and does not jiggle when pie is lightly shaken. Remove
from oven.

Cut marshmallows in half. Place halves in concentric circles
over the top of the pie until covered.

Lower oven rack to the middle position, and set oven to the
lowest broil setting. Place pie on the rack and lightly toast the marshmallows.They will brown very quickly.

Let the pie cool a bit then chill it in the refrigerator to
set for 2-3 hours.

When serving the pie, spray your knife with Pam so it doesn’t
stick to the marshmallow topping as you cut the pie into individual slices. Consider warming each slice in the microwave
for 10-15 seconds. Drizzle with chocolate sauce if desired.

This is an oldie but a goodie (kind of like David) so worth repeating. Plus, the s'mores pie that I made wasn't blog worthy.Ingredients

4 cups of frozen or fresh blackberries (or mixed berries)

1 Tbsp lemon juice

1 large egg

1 cup flour

1 cup sugar

6 Tbsp butter, melted

Ice cream or whipped cream, optional

Preheat oven to 375F.In an 8x8 pan, pour in the blackberries and sprinkle the lemon juice on top. In a separate bowl, combine the egg, flour and sugar until it resembles a course meal. Sprinkle the flour mixture on top. Pour the melted butter on top.Bake for 40 minutes or until golden brown on top. Let sit for 10 minutes.Scoop it out and serve in individual ramekins (apparently you could bake in the ramekins as well). Top with ice cream or whipped cream, if you like.

PS - no one would complain if you chose to double this recipe and baked it in a 9x13 dish.

Friday, February 12, 2016

In the business presentation
techniques class that I teach, I encourage my students to improve their
effectiveness in verbal communications:

Linzer Cookies

Be direct. (flowers)

Be actionable. (give me
flowers)

Don’t assume the audience
knows what you are trying to say. (I like receiving flowers)

Connect the dots for the
audience.(therefore, you should buy me
flowers)

As the presenter, you have
the opportunity to have the last word; people are busy; they are only half
paying attention.Don’t just end your
presentation with a “thank you” – tell them what you want them to do. (buy me
flowers for Valentine’s Day – that’s it – really.)

Mix together the butter and sugar until they are just
combined. Add the vanilla. In a separate, medium bowl, sift together the flour
and salt, then add them to the butter-and-sugar mixture. Mix on low speed until
the dough starts to come together. Dump onto a surface dusted with flour and
shape into a flat disk. Wrap in plastic and chill for 30 minutes.

Roll the dough 1/4-inch thick and cut 2 3/4-inch rounds with
a plain or fluted cutter. With 1/2 of the rounds, cut a hole from the middle of
each round with a heart or spade shaped cutter. Place all the cookies on an
ungreased baking sheet and chill for 15 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Bake the cookies for 20 to 25 minutes, until the edges begin
to brown. Allow to cool to room temperature. Spread raspberry preserves on the
flat side of each solid cookie. Dust the top of the cut-out cookies with
confectioners' sugar and press the flat sides together, with the raspberry
preserves in the middle and the confectioners' sugar on the top.

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About Me

I'm a busy mom who likes to cook and exchange recipes with friends. I'm no chef (I follow recipes) and want to share some of my favorites - and try yours too! Let's create a place to swap recipes so we're not all making our same 5 dishes again and again. And let's make them basic enough to try on a weeknight.